Friday, July 31, 2009

BOSTON (AP) -- A Boston University student has been ordered to pay $675,000 to four record labels for illegally downloading and sharing music. Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The only issue for the jury to decide was how much in damages to award the record labels. Under federal law, the recording companies were entitled to $750 to $30,000 per infringement. But the law allows as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds the infringements were willful. The maximum jurors could have awarded in Tenenbaum's case was $4.5 million. The case is only the nation's second music downloading case against an individual to go to trial. Last month, a federal jury in Minneapolis ruled a Minnesota woman must pay nearly $2 million for copyright infringement.

"The bank's unprecedented reach and power have enabled it to turn all of America into a giant pumpanddump scam, manipulating whole economic sectors for years at a time, moving the dice game as this or that market collapses, and all the time gorging itself on the unseen costs that are breaking families everywhere — high gas prices, rising consumercredit rates, halfeaten pension funds, mass layoffs, future taxes to pay off bailouts. All that money that you're losing, it's going somewhere, and in both a literal and a figurative sense, Goldman Sachs is where it's going: The bank is a huge, highly sophisticated engine for converting the useful, deployed wealth of society into the least useful, most wasteful and insoluble substance on Earth — pure profit for rich individuals."

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

"All the members were American GIs stationed in Germany in the mid-sixties."

"At the beginning of 1965, Dave Day and Roger Johnston, on a whim, got their heads shaved into monks' tonsures. The rest of the band followed their lead, and to complete the image, the band took to wearing a uniform - all black, sometimes in cassocks, with nooses worn as neckties."

"One attendee attempted to strangle Gary Burger at a show in Hamburg, presumably for perceived blasphemy."

Monday, July 27, 2009

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty excited to hear the rumor last week that Stephon would likely be back with the C's, rather than play in Europe. But the launch of the 24/7 Starbury webcam channel on justin.tv has left me seriously questioning whether I want this guy running the Celtics offense for 10 minutes a night. Rather than working out or shooting jumpers to prepare for next season, Stephon has been spending an inordinate amount of time in front of his webcam, listening to Drake, and doing everything he can to ensure that no GM would dare to give him the Veteran Minimum for next season. There aren't a lot of videos up on the web of this, at least not yet, however Stephon's breakdown at 3:45 AM has been making the rounds on the net;

Along with quotes like these;

"YOU SEE I WORK WHEN THEY ARE SLEEP I KEEP TRYING TO TELL YOU I DONT PLAYY. IM GOING TO FIND OUT WHO THE PEOPLE ARE BEHIND THE DOOR THAT THEY HID BEHIND AND FIND OUT THEIR SKELTONS AND REPORT IT ON MY STATION"

The NBA executives have taken notice as well;

There were teams watching him in front offices as he conducted his marathon video chat on Friday, and Starbury confirmed himself as a complete loon. He was live on his balcony, Jesus had shown himself in Marbury’s shower and this wayward point guard was still the biggest waste of talent that basketball’s seen in a long, long time.

“He’s gone off the deep end,” one Western Conference executive texted on Friday.

As I was starting to make this post I checked his channel, and over the past ten minutes Starbury has been live in his bed, talking about god and heaven, holding back tears. He then preceded to listen to Kanye while posing, motionless, pointing to the 3 tattooed on his head for a solid 4 minutes. Then he ate Vaseline. Seriously. At this point, his wife is on the phone, trying to convince him to get off the internet, because he is embarrassing himself. Steph wasn't having it, and started talking about a Louis Vitton shopping spree, singing, and his "vision". I'm not kidding, this is very sad, and absolutely fucking insane. Watching an athlete self destruct live on webcam, from his house, one of the weirdest things I've ever seen on the internet.

For sex educators and others, the answer is glaringly obvious. Withdrawal before ejaculation, the so-called pullout method, is a last resort, they say — something to be used only if there are no other options. The effectiveness of condoms, on the other hand, is well known.

So reproductive experts were taken aback by a paper in the June issue of Contraception magazine. Based on an analysis of studies, the paper pronounced withdrawal “almost as effective as the male condom — at least when it comes to pregnancy prevention.”

“If the male partner withdraws before ejaculation every time a couple has vaginal intercourse, about 4 percent of couples will become pregnant over the course of a year,” the authors write.

For condoms, used optimally, the rate is about 2 percent. But more significant, the authors say, are the rates for “typical use,” because people can’t be expected to use any contraception method perfectly every time. Typical use of withdrawal leads to pregnancy 18 percent of the time, they write; for typical use of condoms 17 percent of the time.

(There are other, more effective methods. Failure rates for the pill and the patch are about 8 percent; for Depo-Provera injections, about 3 percent; and for diaphragms, about 16 percent. Intrauterine devices fail less than 1 percent of the time.)

well, good times were had at camp bisco this past weekend. notable acts included nas and damien marly, chromeo, the dfa records camp and bonobo. also, i had not seen sound tribe before and to be honest, i was impressed. and i'm proud to say that i didn't see one minute of the disco bicuits.

the most fun however was just sitting with friends and laughing at the constant absurdness. and as usual, the wooky's stole the show. if we didn't pack up the chairs when we left for a show, the site would be infested with these hairy, moneyless creatures by the time we got back. when they weren't trying to sleep in your tent or on your chairs they were asking you for a beer. still, what would a music festival be without them...

So it looks like Marquis will be the newest Celtic, and someone just threw together this video breaking down his game against the C's. Obviously any player we pick up at this price is going to have holes in his game. I can live with his lack of shooting, but his defense worries me. Some claim that this video makes his D look worse than it really is, and there seem to be conflicting reports around the web. Offensively I think he can be an asset, we need a wing who can create his own shot, while also freeing up our perimter shooters, like Eddie, Sheed, and Ray (who plays with the second unit quite a bit). A 2/3 tweener is just what we wanted, and he might be able to bring the ball up/run the offense in a pinch when we have him at the two with Eddie at the 1.

Some scouting reports;Hollinger (ESPN) - Daniels is 6-6 but handles the ball like a point guard and has played there at times, including last season for the Pacers. He has a great feel for scoring close to the basket and the size to finish around bigger players, even though he isn't a great athlete. He's shot over 50 percent in the basket area each of the past three seasons, an unusual feat for a guard. Unfortunately, he needs to shoot well from that close in because he's such a poor outside shooter.

When Daniels is going good people say he's smooth ... and when he's not, people say he's coasting. One wonders if he could be a bit more engaged in the proceedings, especially on defense where he appears both soft and somewhat disinterested.Hoops Hype; A versatile player... Can play all three perimeter positions... Does a little bit of everything... Quite athletic... Good defender on the ball... Nice mid-range game... Not a great outside shooter.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Wow. Not sure what was better, "I'm Jermain Dupree," Nellie waving off the camera or the $40,000 in singles. Pathetic display of humanity all around. What team is going to sign him after all this is over? I suppose he would fit in well with the Bengals.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

CAPTURE THE FLAG NYC 2009FRIDAY, JULY 17thMeet @ N 7th St. & Kent Ave. 7:00 PMCapture the Flag is a massive, adrenaline-pumping, urban game played on the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Two teams hide flags in their territory and attempt to capture the enemy flag using buses, taxis, bicycles, longboards or their own two feet. Join us as we dash through the 'burg, evade the enemy and score a point.

All participants are strongly encouraged to bring a cellphone and a flashlight. Players use phones to plan strategies. Also, the area is very dimly lit, and you will be glad you brought a flashlight or a head lamp. Additionally, if you are on wheels, please light up your bike!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Former Boston Celtics All-Star Antoine Walker faces three felony counts of writing $1 million in bad checks to three Sin City casinos, according to a report in yesterday’s Las Vegas Sun. The 32-year-old forward, who played in 2008 for the Minnesota Timberwolves, won an NBA title with Miami in 2006. Before that season, ’Toine was traded to the Heat from the Celts, the team that drafted him in 1996.

No. 8 is accused of writing 10 bad checks worth a total of $1 million to three casinos: Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and Red Rock Resort, reported the Sun. Under Nevada law, gambling debts are handled as bad check cases. Prosecutors said Walker, who ran up the debts from last July to January, repaid $178,000. But he still faces criminal charges for the remaining $822,500 - not to mention the $82,500 in fees the district attorney’s office’s wants.LINK

With the Big Baby situation looking more and more dire, why not offer 'toine the Vet Min with half upfront? Antoine could pay off his gambling debts, or even better, just double down on the C's to win it all (currently 9/2). The Celtics would then enhance their quest for acquiring the entire 2002 NBA All Star Team, as well as having the worst three point shooter in NBA history (with at least 4,000 attempts) coming off the bench at the four spot. Not to mention the dance moves. Win-Win-Win.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Jayson, our next door neighbor at Fleet is making a driven push for millions selling the Drink N' Buddy (TM), a beer koozie pocketed polo shirt. The idea seems brilliant, however the operational practicality of the design remains to be seen as their is a high risk for spillage, shaking, and subsequent loss of carbonation. The website is worth checking out, Drinknbuddy.com, if only for the hilarious flash animation of a bottled beer falling from the sky into a illustrated Drink N' Buddy (TM) shirt.

If you're not sure whether or not this is a joke, tune in to WHEB radio because Jayson is making a Drink N' Buddy (TM) promotional appearance posing as Billy Mays (R.I.P.). And if you're still not sure, make sure to attend the Fleet St. driveway party where a yet to be determined sum of money will earn you a Drink N' Buddy shirt and a bottomless cup of beer. This is the real deal.

"It may not look like much at first glance, but researchers in Japan have pulled off a Jedi mind trick of sorts for directing electric wheelchairs.

Carmaker Toyota and research lab RIKEN have created a wheelchair that can be controlled by thought, perhaps heralding improved mobility for the severely disabled and elderly.

The device scans brain waves through sensors in a cap. In 125 thousandths of a second, the brain-controlled wheelchair can turn a thought into a command to turn the chair left or right or to move it forward. To stop, however, the user must puff out his or her cheek, activating a sensor placed there."

"Joey Chestnut, of San Jose, Calif., defending champion of the Nathan's Famous July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest, celebrates his victory over former champion Takeru Kobayashi of Nagano, Japan, Saturday, July 4, 2009, in New York. Chestnut logged his third consecutive win in Coney Island's annual hot dog eating contest with a world-record 68 franks."

Thursday, July 2, 2009

So there's been a lot of talk about the celtics offering Rasheed Wallace the mid level exception for 2 years. I think he'll end up going to San Antonio and we'll end up getting Grant Hill, and maybe Mcdyess, but here is why I want 'Sheed in Green.